Jalen sets half marathon PB in The Hapalua

Run Saipan member Jalen Lucido poses with is finisher’s medal after completing The Hapalua in Hawaii last weekend. (MARK RABAGO)

Run Saipan member Jalen Lucido is warming up for this year’s Honolulu Marathon by taking part and completing Hawaii’s largest half marathon, The Hapalua, in a personal best time last weekend.

Hapalua literally means “half” in the Hawaiian language.

Lucido completed the 13.1-mile run that started at Waikiki before going through Honolulu and up and around Diamond Head in a time of 1 hour and 55 minutes, which broke his goal of running it in under 2 hours. 

Like all finishers, the 24-year-old multilingual teacher at Waialae Public Charter School was rewarded with a beautiful medal and freshly made malasadas and shaved ice at the finish line. 

“I ran it because I wanted to see if I could reach my goal of finishing it in under 2 hours. I have been training for it since I did the full one (Honolulu Marathon) back in December. My coach said we will try to get my full marathon time under 4 hours next time. I thought to myself that I would need to get my half marathon time under 2 hours for it to be possible,” he said. 

The son of Joey and Gemma Lucido of Chalan Kanoa said the hardest part of The Hapalua was certainly the elevation gain at miles 9 and 11. 

“The start of Mile 9 runs along the Diamond Head, the climb I would say is about 1-1.5 miles long. It was never ending! Another would be around Mile 11 where there was a short elevation gain. My legs were already fatigued at this point from the first climb but it is a good thing there was no wind or else it would make it much harder.”
Despite the elevation challenges, the University of Hawaii at Manoa alumnus said overall it was a great day to run. 

“It was cold and there was a little bit of wind. Halfway through, the sun came out and toward the end there was a light shower of rain. The course was kinda similar to the full marathon one and so I was familiar with the route. There were about 8,000 participants and it was fun running with all of them.”

Lucido said he trained for The Hapalua by starting off with weekly mileage goals. He then graduated to running 30 miles per week dating back to the second week of January. 

“Daily workouts consisted of speed runs, easy runs, and long runs. I would do this for three weeks straight and then a deload week on the fourth week. The following week I would increase my weekly mileage adding five more to the current one. Then workouts would be the same but my long runs would slightly increase,” he said.

Lucido thanked the usual suspects—family and friends—for helping him in his latest run endeavor.

“First and foremost, I am dedicating this to God. He always keeps me safe while I am training. To my family, friends, my Run Saipan family, and special shoutout to my coach Edward Dela Cruz Jr..” 

With The Hapalua clearly on the rearview mirror, Lucido now trains his sights on his third Honolulu Marathon, where he set the aforementioned goal of completing it in under 4 hours. 

“I am going to be recovering my body and take it a little bit slow with running. I’ll make sure everything is fully recovered so that I can start another training for the full marathon that is happening in December and see if I can reach my goal which is a sub 4-hour marathon time.”

Run Saipan Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said he’s always proud when people he trained, coached, and mentored like Lucido go on to break their personal records.

“I’m very happy that he hit the sub 2-hour mark. Our next goal is for him to run under 1 hour and 45 minutes. It’s really hard to train someone in running via long distance but his training has been vastly improving over the years. It’s a testament to his discipline in Hawaii to stick with the program,” he said.